From beginners to extreme marathon runners, roughly 10,000 people hit the pavement along the breathtaking Big Sur coastline Sunday for races including the Big Sur International Marathon.

"Running on Highway 1 on the coast, I mean, there's not too many races where you can run point-to-point on the coast with views like you get here at this race, so it's a unique race," marathon runner Chris Jones said.

"You just have a goal and you stick to your plan," Boston to Big Sur marathon runner Mimi Hahn said. "You don't go out too fast, you're realistic and you just dig in. You really find out what you're made of and what you can do when you try hard."

Hahn, a first-time Boston to Big Sur participant, said her 50th birthday was the catalyst for her decision to take on the back-to-back races. She is from Salinas and had already taken on the Big Sur International Marathon, but this year she added the Boston Marathon.

"Somewhere along the line, I realized if you're going to have a 50, mid-life crisis, why not do Boston to Big Sur?" Hahn said. “So that's where this all came from."

Hahn said she's not sure she's ready to commit to another marathon just yet.

"My legs hurt a lot," Hahn said. "So tomorrow at work, it will be interesting if I can go up and down stairs."

The international event could not happen without the help of roughly 2,500 volunteers who aid the event with numerous tasks like handing out food to the runners and helping them find their families after the race. Some of the volunteers are specialized massage therapists who donate their time to give massages.

"Because it’s fun and it feels good to give back to the community and these guys deserve it, they've been running so long and they've come in and they're so grateful to be touched and moved, they feel really good about it," message therapist volunteer Cindy Montgomery said.

More than $250,000 of proceeds will go back to Central Coast charities. Since the marathon's inception, nearly $4 million has been donated to local charities.